New Delhi, January 28: The Supreme Court has mandated that police cannot serve notices to accused individuals through WhatsApp or other electronic methods under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) or the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.
A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal instructed all states and Union Territories (UTs) to issue directives to their police forces, ensuring that notices under Section 41A of the CrPC or Section 35 of the BNSS, 2023, are served only through methods that are legally recognized.
"All states/UTs must issue a standing order to their respective police forces, mandating that notices under Section 41-A of CrPC, 1973/Section 35 of BNSS, 2023, be served only through the prescribed modes as outlined under the CrPC, 1973/BNSS, 2023," the bench stated on January 21.
